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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/25/1990URBAN AFFAIRS ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES CITY OF APPLE VALLEY SEPTEMBER 25, 1990 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:10 p.m. in the City of Apple Valley Council Chambers. Members Present: Chairman John McKay, Members Jeannine Churchill, Shirley Doering, Pamela Sohlberg, Sharon Schwartz, and Councilperson Barb Savanick. Members Absent: JoAnne Ellison. Staff Present: Deb Asselanis, Scott Hickok, and Meg McMonigal. Others Present: None. 2. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA OF SEPTEMBER 25, 1990 The agenda was approved as written. 3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF MAY 7, 1990 MOTION: A motion was made by Member Jeannine Churchill, seconded by Member Pamela Sohlberg, to approve the minutes as written. The motion carried with Shirley Doering abstaining. 4. UPDATES A. Recycling -Deb Asselanis Chairman John McKay updated the Urban Affairs Committee on recyclable products and products made from recycled materials. Green Forest toilet paper is an example of a recycled product. This toilet paper has been recycled from other paper fibers. A point was made that this recycled product is comparable to regular toilet paper in price. McKay also asked about the recycling bag distributed by Knutson for batteries. He stated that he put his batteries in the bag, attached. the bag to his recycling receptacle, and the bag was never picked up. A final point that John McKay made regarding recycling is that garage- side pickup means that the containers should be brought back up to the side of the house once they have been dumped. He felt that the haulers should be made aware of this. Administrative Intern Deb Asselanis stated that a letter did go out to all haulers once again reminding them that we have Urban Affairs Advisory Committee Minutes September 25, 1990 Page 2 garage-side pickup in Apple Valley and that means that the containers have to be brought back up to the house. Deb Asselanis gave a presentation of the current status of recycling in Apple Valley. She pointed out that in 1990 we have collected 800 tons of curb-side recycling. In 1990 our goal is 12 percent of the residential waste stream. Asselanis went on to explain that presently the City has recycled 1,225 tons of waste. The goal for 1990 is 1,952 tons. She ex- pressed confidence that we will meet the goal in 1990. Asselanis painted out that the plastic recycling has not been mandated by the County and there is no economic incentive for haulers to pick up plastic. She did explain that Goodwill accepts plastic and cited that as a good place to drop it off. John McKay added if we could get this information to the schools, it would be valuable. Sharon Schwartz asked how we are measuring yard waste. Asselanis responded that this is being measured at the composting sites. Chairman McKay asked how good the haulers have been about providing the information that we asked for. Asselanis responded that they have been very good. Apparently, their accounting systems are now in place and the reporting has improved greatly. Chairman McKay stated that he has heard about significant increases in percentages of households recycling. Asselanis responded that it would be news to her that the percentages are increasing. The trend is increasing, but the collection has been sporadic. One group will collect a large amount, while another group will have a very small amount during that period, and the following week may be reversed. Councilmember Savanick asked what percentage of material is being placed in the containers. Asselanis said it reaily goes back to how often the resident puts their recycling out. Some statistics are next to meaningless, because they show that 50 percent of households are recycling. Asselanis expanded on the statement by saying that a person may put out their recycling every other week or they may save it up until they have enough. There is no accurate way to measure how many people are recycling because it does not occur every week at every household. Sharon Schwartz asked how the market is for newspaper presently. Asselanis explained that there is a plant in Montana, a large plant proposed in Canada and locally, we have a paper recycling facility- Waldorf Corporation. Chairman McKay asked if the 1•Zrban Affairs Advisory Committee has the authority to recommend legislation that would require that newspapers be printed on recycled paper. McKay expanded by explaining that there is an over abundance of newspaper and he feels that it would be an important piece of legislation. It would require that paper is to be printed in this Urban Affairs Advisory Committee Minutes September 25, 1990 Page 3 manner. There was no recommendation at this point, but Chairman McKay asked the Committee to think about a recommendation that they could make to the City Council which will be forwarded to the State Legislators. Jeannine Churchill added that if we are to forward a recommendation, we should recommend a limit on glossy print that can be placed in our publications. Shirley Doering stated that there is a great deal of glossy material and junk mail with her business as a travel agent. Councilmember Savanick asked if we are looking at recycling cardboard. Asselanis responded that Waldorf has the capability of recycling breakfast food boxes, etc., but they do not promote it because of the liners found in the boxes. These liners must be removed prior to the recycling and that becomes very tedious. Savanick asked if we can put pastel paper in with our newspaper to be recycled. Asselanis responded that it is appropriate. Associate Planner McMonigal stated that the Pollution Control Agency in Minnesota reuses paper prior to discarding it. They bind this paper into pads and use the blank side of the paper. Then the paper can be recycled. Sharon Schwartz asked about programs for recycling in the fast food areas. Deb Asselanis responded that Eagan McDonald's is participating in the national program for recycling Styrofoam, etc. This is done by separating out those items from the regular trash at that restaurant. She went on to explain that grocery stores have purchased cardboard bailers to begin their recycling process. John McKay stated that he feels that the fast food operators should be required to come to a public hearing, or should be invited to a public hearing that would allow staff, Urban Affairs Advisory Committee, and the public to ask these retailers questions about what they plan to do for recycling, what they are doing for recycling, etc. McKay states that the press should be invited to these hearings as well. McKay also asked about the hazardous materials collection days. He felt we should have those more often. John McKay asked what you can do with batteries other than going to the hazardous materials collection days. Asselanis explained that there are programs for recycling "button" batteries. These button batteries are found in hearing aids, radios, watches, etc. That type of battery has the greatest amount of lead and therefore, has been the battery that has had the most attention in terms of recycling. She also added that a hazardous waste recycling day costs the community between $6,000.00 and $7,000.00 to run. It is very expensive, yet very effective. She went on to explain the money end of recycling, Urban Affairs Advisory Committee Minutes September 25, 1990 Page 4 explaining that we did purchase 3,000 more curb-side bins, one cardboard compactor, and 100 compost bins at $49.95 per bin. Chairman McKay asked how the 100 bins the City has purchased are being distributed. Asselanis explained that the 4-H Appleseed Group is dis- tributing the bins within Apple Valley and along with the bins they are distributing a survey to be filled out by the recipients of bins. The survey will help us analyze the effectiveness, the success or lack of success in the composting program with these containers. Asselanis then explained that we are looking to extend the recycling program into the multi-family area. Currently, we do not have a multi-family recycling program, but we are looking at options including a recycling center for each of the multi-family projects. This recycling center would be a central location where we would provide possibly an enclosure for the materials to be recycled. More research is being done as to the cost of enclosures and the feasibility. Sharon Schwartz asked about recycling phone books. What can be done? Asselanis responded that the City of Fridley is looking at proposing legislation to the State, which would require that U.S. West fund a recycling program for their phone books. In Apple Valley, we do not have a phone book recycling program. It is possible that a person can tear out the pages of their phone book and place those pages in the same recycling bin as newspapers, because it is the same quality and type of paper as newsprint. Shirley Doering stated that she has three or four directories other than the large Minneapolis/St. Paul directories which are local and these pose the same problem. Jeannine Churchill asked if we could expand our proposal for legislation to include a ban on aerosol products within the community. B. Urban Surface Water Quality Education Peograms -Meg McMonigal Meg McMonigal presented information on the Urban Surface Water Quality education program initiated earlier this year. She stated that there is a good indication that people are beginning to consider the water quality issues and the feedback has been very positive. We recently notified the residences that border Lac Lavon and provided information about water quality. McMonigal distributed a letter from a resident which indicated a positive response to the information that had been handed out. She also went on to explain that the Lake Alimagnet Water Quality Study is underway with the City of Burnsville and the City of Apple Valley, both partners in the study. This is a diagnostic feasibility study in conjunction with the Pollution Control Agency. McMonigal spoke to a consultant regarding the study and was informed that Lake Alimagnet does not have any Eurasion Urban Affairs Advisory Committee Minutes September 25, 1990 Page 5 Milfoil. She also introduced an article from the Minneapolis Star Tribune that talked generally about water. This article was circulated to the Urban Affairs Committee Members and discussed. Pam Sohlberg stated that her water is brown and wondered if this was something that should be checked out. She was told that she should report it to the water department when it happens. McMonigal continued by saying that the City is installing sump catch basins near all of the major lakes in the community. The purpose of these catch basins is to filter the water prior to dumping that water into lakes or streams. McMonigal made a recommendation that we develop policies in our comprehensive plan and we continue to make sure that water quality educational materials are available for the public. We can incorporate our city comprehensive policies into the educational program as these policies develop. She offered to bring them to the Urban Affairs Advisory Committee for review. Sharon Schwartz asked about commercial fertilizing companies and whether or not they had been asked to limit their phosphorous applications in Apple Valley. McMonigal stated that she had spoken to some of the fertilizer companies. The committee suggested that we strengthen the recommendations by writing a letter to fertilizer applicators that work in Apple Valley. Chairman McKay stated that the Fluegel Elevator in Rosemount does carry a non-phosphorous fertilizer and it is used as fairway fertilizer for golf courses. McKay stated that he was a bit surprised by the resistance of the salesperson at the store to sell the non-phosphorous fertilizer. This salesperson was surprised that John would know about it and ask for it specifically. Chairman McKay stated that he would like to have staff write to the retail concerns - Chemlawn, Barefoot Grass, etc. - and ask them to respond with breakdowns of what they apply on residential lawns. McMonigal stated that the City of Roseville has an ordinance requiring the licensing of fertilizer applicators. The program seems to take a lot of administration without any measurement of effectiveness. C. Energy Grant Program -Scott Hickok Associate Planner Scott Hickok distributed the multi-page grant application to members of the Urban Affairs Advisory Committee and briefly explained the three energy audits being offered through the two year energy conservation program. These audits are: 1) Home Enerev Check (HEC) - Offered at no cost to those who meet the income guidelines. The cost is $10.00 for any resident interested, that does not meet the income guidelines. Urban Affairs Advisory Committee Minutes September 25, 1990 Page 6 2) Blower Door Test - A sophisticated analysis of home energy loss and consumption. Tests are free, but targeted to individuals with older homes. Majority of tests will be offered to those who meet the specified income guidelines. 3) Enerev Landscape Audit - Audit available (comes as a bonus) to any resident of Apple Valley who participates in the energy program. Resident may opt to have an internal home audit (#1 or #2) and our forester will evaluate whether or not additional plantings could be used to increase energy savings. This land- scape audit is available without participating in the internal audits (#1 and #2). Some residents may have had a recent audit inside their home, but could use planting advice. D. Parking -Scott Hickok Scott Hickok briefly explained the parking enforcement procedures within the City. Hickok illustrated the City-wide inspection process through the use of overhead projections. Shirley Doering commented there are still existing situations that she is aware of and she has spoken to residents who are upset about the requirements parking motor vehicles on paved surfaces only. Hickok responded that he would like to have 10096 compliance, but realizes there may have been situations that were missed in the original inspection process. (This may be due to the time of day for inspections, etc.) Hickok continued by saying the remaining cases will be much easier to deal with now that the majority of the residents have corrected the violations and are aware of the ordinances that exist. E. Weeds -Scott Hickok A brief overview was given. 5. DISCUSSION ITEMS - None - 6. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m. kg